Mercenary Bonding Commision

Will there be any clubs?

Just to make sure I am not misunderstood, I don't have the game (or the beta-version or whatever is out right now) but when the final version comes out, I plan to buy it.

With every other game I've played, there has been some form of club; whether it be the Clans in America's Army or the Crews in NFS Carbon. Is there anyone out there who would be interested in a mercenary club? This would be players who respond to bounty and hire themselves out to other players in an attempt to make the most money. This club could have a scoreboard with the leading mercenary units name and bounty displayed on a weekly basis, while another scoreboard could track the overall bounty leaders. How does that sound?

but I dont know who would come give these bounty hunters anything It'd be a cold day in hell when I even paid a buck for that. But if it's worked before... I guess if there's some virtual charge or reward... still sounds neat.

First off, membership in this club would be free provided that the members abided by the rules of conduct for the club.

My whole thought had been that if there was some way for a player to transfer in-game money (not real cash) to another player, then mercenary companies could make a decent profit. Let's say that player X is getting his tail kicked by player B. Player X could request the services of player C who is opperating as a mercenary unit. Player X would then transfer some of his money (or whatever is used to measure wealth in this game) to player C's account, in exchange for player C's service of taking out player B.

I'm just trying to find out if there is enough player support to create such a club.

This 'guild' would be more of a loose club that provided a place for mercenary 'units' to meet, discuss strategy, report collected bounty, etc. When I say 'unit' I am not talking about several players; a 'unit' is one player whos civilization acts as a mercenary company in a game. Members of this guild/club/clan would have a tag in front of their username to indicate that they are a mercenary. Example: [Merc]Timber-Wulf

On the website there would be a chart or two that listed the best mercenary unit of the week and the best unit overall (all based on bounty and trade earnings).

Mercenary units (player acting as a mercenary) would join a game as a normal player and play the game in a 'normal' fashion, except they would declair that they were a mercenary and invite other players to pay them for services (such as fleet reinforcement, scouting, hit and run, and defense). So the goal of the mercenary player is not to wipe out the competition as much as it is to keep the competition alive and well so that there continues to be a lucrative market for his/her services. Eventually it will come down to two players, but until that point the merc. is not trying to completely wipe someone out unless they are paid to do so, or they fall under attack.

Forgive me if I'm off base here, but you do realize that each game is a completely separate game from all other games. All participants need to be present at the start of each game. This isn't a persistant world or a massively multiplayer environment where you could "hang out your shingle" so to speak. In order for a game to end all of the players need to be defeated, including any "mercenaries" (at least now - any other situation will depend on what other victory conditions may be added later). And after a game is over, you don't carry out wealth or resources with your character/persona - every game starts with everyone on a (more or less) equal basis.

That said, there's nothing to stop you from having a group of affiliated players who wish to advertise they can be bought.

I understand that wealth cannot be transferred from game to game, that you cannot join a game in progress, that the game can only end if only one player wins, and that each game starts from the beginning and is not going on while you are offline.

I am not suggesting anything that cannot be done within these guidelines. Players affiliated with a mercenary group simply join a game and play from start to finish. While in the game they simply advertise their services to other players looking for some additional firepower. Once the game ends (either they win or they are destroyed), these mercenary players will report their earnings to the Commission and be ranked against other mercenary players accordingly. Each groups earnings will be tracked on the Commission Website.

Now about that website. I've done some thinking and it seems that it may be possible to "hire" other players into your mercenary unit. If you start a company, let's say you call yourself The Plague, you advertise yourself on the Commissions' website (set up a link to your companies' website)and set up a list of rules and criteria for members who wish to join your company. Each member who joins is required to attach your tag to their username in addition to the mercenary identification tag. EX: [Merc]Timber-Wulf[Plg]. These hired members can be called 'commanders'. Each commander is responsible for their 'unit'. This unit is nothing more than their fleet during the game. Each commander (company member) reports his/her earnings to the Commission just as before, except their earnings are grouped together with everyone else in your company. You can even choose to give rank to the different commanders within your unit (separate from Commission rank)(Captain, Liutenant, ect.). Eventually, your mercenary company and its members will get to be well known and you may find yourself getting invited into certain games by other players who have had good experiences with you in the past and would like to be able to get your aid. (Regular players could come to the Commission website to request a mercenary companies' presance in an upcoming game.)

The Mercenary Bonding Commission is simply part of a bigger picture. It is designed to help all these scattered merc. companies have a common place to hire, advertise, and get game requests. In addition the site would track unit progress and earnings in multiplayer games. Each company would also get their own forum section where other units could chat and those game requests I mentioned would be filed by regular players. Your company forum would also be where your earnings are reported.

Hope I didn't lose anyone with that long explanation of the workings of the Commission. If you have any questions, please post.

When I find the time, I will start working on a Commission Website teaser. I'm hoping to get the domain name www.freewebs.com/mercnet if it's not already taken. I'll post again when I've started.

So a few things.- The top banner, can it be darkened abit? Because you can barely see the text.- When registering a Company, will there be a profil? and if so, when will that be available?- How are we to earn the cash? If players are to pay for our service, where will they get the cash.- An idea for the word cash, could be "sins" like 1.720.149 sins earned. Heh or something like that.

I'm still working out a few of the bugs with my idea. Your Company's profile will appear on the Bio screen, provided that you submitted one in your application. I don't have the game yet, but I was counting on the fact that the game would have a 'trade' screen where you could trade or buy goods from other players. If that doesn't exist, then you would have to make a deal with a player, telling him/her to set a specific bounty on the player they want you to attack. Once you collect that bounty, you report it to MercNet where it will be added to your companies log.

The idea for calling the money 'sins' is good. I like it. Have to see if I can find a symbol to stand for it.

I don't think getting game requests on a website would work in the context of Sins, as official games are done by anonymous matchmaking. You would only be able to be invited into unofficial user created games that have no bearing on players' standings online.

Dang it! That's what I get for not downloading the beta version. Oh well, the mercenary company idea will still work, it just won't work quite the way I had envisioned.

Guess it all depends on how many members your company has, and what skill levels those members are. So, the point is to hire as many members as possible so you can get a higher ranking and spread your name around.